What do you all think of the following message, taken from the Huffington Post?
I have come to believe that Friday was neither Fitzmas nor Fitzukkah, nor will we look back on it as such.
Let's say, it's late Sept., 2003. You are Karl Rove, Bush's brain, and a criminal investigation has just begun into why Joe Wilson's CIA wife was outed.
It is your job to prepare the White House staff, who have collectively been involved in the conspiracy, to ensure that the least damage occurs.
The best outcome, of course, would be to put someone who could be bought or threatened in charge of the investigation. The second best outcome would be to have just one of the people involved indicted, but the important consideration is that you really want the indictment, if any to occur AFTER the 2004 presidential elections.
So, what to do? You know that Judy Miller is a star-struck neocon with a thing for Scooter Libby. You know that Miller thinks of herself as an intrepid, principled reporter, although, after that WMD bs she swallowed, you know that she's nothing but a ditz.
That makes Libby the likely fall-guy. And he won't be fallen for long IF (and only if) Bush is re-elected. Since you're going to make sure that every one else's alibi is air tight, the most the investigators will get Libby on will be perjury.
But how to make sure the reporters think they are standing up for the Rights of the Press for long enough that the election passes before inconvenient facts come out? Easy. Have Libby (the selected fall-guy) tell the nearly-obviously transparent story that some one in the press gave him the information about Valerie Plume.
The results:
The investigation was almost over by March, 2004. From then until Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, pretty much NOTHING happened. NOTHING HAPPENED. NO NEWS ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION leaked for nearly a FULL YEAR after the 2004 election.
And then, finally, Judy Miller emerges from prison, and the "loose ends" must be tied up fast, because the grand jury is about to expire.
VERY little discussion of how or why the Bush team conspired to start a rash and unnecessary war in Iraq occurred was printed in the main stream media before the 2004 election.
And now, since Dubya's been re-elected, he's free to pardon Libby, appoint several wingnuts to the Supreme Court, and every one else gets off scot-free.
It doesn't matter how saintly Patrick Fitzgerald is. BECAUSE he was clean and leak-free, NOTHING happened until a YEAR AFTER the 2004 election.
Brilliant. Complex, but then, we should expect complexity from Karl Rove.
I am convinced that Rove really did have a great day this past Friday.
